Gregor and the Legend of the Stone Bandits
by DoomedNinja
Summary: It's been 4 months since Gregor seemingly left the Underland for good. But when the mysterious Prophecy of Terror looms over Gregor out of nowhere, Gregor must return to the underland once more. Just who are the mysterious "Stone Bandits"? CoC Follow-up!
1. Ch 1: A Saturday Morning

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Status: Slowly updating.

Hey there. I'm DoomedNinja, and this is my first fanfiction I'm submitting to this website, so go easy on me. This story is a follow up to Gregor and the Code of Claw, and I plan on it being over 25 chapters, at least. This story is rated "T" for mild violence and certain themes. Don't say I didn't warn you. It's still in-progress, but enjoy!

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Gregor, on Ares, flew straight into a dark, wide tunnel, rager sensation bubbling up inside him. There was a shadowy figure at the end of the tunnel… waiting. Tall and elegant, with that silky hair…Luxa. He flew towards her, excited. But then it happened.

A humongous white rat lunged out of a side tunnel, and grabbed Luxa, screaming unearthly cries, and taunting Gregor. The Bane. As Gregor flew towards the Bane, the Bane gripped Ares' wing and tore it in half. Ares stumbled flat onto the ground, and Gregor fell down some sort of dark pit. Falling, he opened his mouth to scream Ares and Luxa's names, but the sound wasn't coming out. As he fell, he watched the Bane viciously tear Ares apart to his death and watch him swallow Luxa whole. Then everything started fade to black. "I'm about to die any second," he thought to himself, tears streaming down his face as he fell into darkness. Then everything finally faded to darkness.

Gregor woke up, panting and sweating. "What a horrible nightmare," Gregor thought to himself, feeling like he was about to scream. He looked around. Everything was fine. His bed was there, his dresser was still in place, and everything seemed fine. He'd left the Underland 4 months ago, and has been having strange dreams about it ever since.

Oh, the Underland. The place he dreaded to enter but also the place that he had dreaded to leave. It was haunting for him to think about how many friends and enemies he had left down there…forever. Ares. Ripred. Vikus. Temp. Lapblood. Luxa. Luxa! He had missed her the most. The Queen of the Underland who he had cared for what seemed like the most. He missed Ares a lot too.

Poor Ares. He had a life of neglect and torture. His original bond, Henry, had betrayed the humans on Gregor's first adventure. Ares then bonded to Gregor. The two were great friends. Gregor always had someone to care for. Ares. The big black bat. So innocent, yet so horribly tortured. Almost no one seemed to care for the poor furry bat. He was hated and shunned by all, and was finally killed by the Bane the last time in the Underland.

Gregor wished he could someday go back there, but he had an odd feeling that he couldn't go unless he had to. Without some weird prophecy, he wouldn't go. Plus, his mother would probably just say 'no' without thinking twice. Or would she? He had never worked up the courage to ask to go back down. But how would he signal to the Underlanders for a bat to pick him up down there? It was a strange and hard process. He was always trying to forget about the Underland. But Lizzie, his 8 year old sister, was right: You can run from your fears, but they will always come after you.

Gregor looked at the clock. It was around 7:00 in the morning, and he could hear his parents' footsteps. He also could hear Lizzie turning on the TV to her Saturday morning cartoons. Gregor got up and peered out his window. It was still dark out, but then again, it was winter. There was a fresh new coat of February snow, twinkling on the ground. Gregor sighed, and started his way to Mrs. Cormaci's for breakfast. Mrs. Cormaci was his neighbor, and sort of like a loving aunt to Gregor. On his way, he grabbed Lizzie, who was on the floor, with the TV on, doing Sudoku puzzles. Boots was probably still sleeping.

On the way out, Gregor noticed the black plastic toy bat that Boots had given him, and it was sitting on top of the TV. Memories of Ares brewed inside of his head. Gregor, hungry,  
started to walk over to Mrs. Cormaci's apartment faster. The door was propped open, and the hums of various kitchen instruments could be heard yards away. The juicy aroma of bacon and eggs floated out the door. "Yum," he heard Lizzie say to herself. By the time they walked in, Mrs. Cormaci was in her kitchen, and their food was already on the table, waiting for them. Lizzie let go of Gregor's hand and ran to her chair. Gregor giggled a bit, and slowly walked to his chair as well.

"Good morning, Gregor and Lizzie," said Mrs. Cormaci, in a rather unusually cheery tone. As he plopped down into his chair, his mouth was already watering. Gregor slowly ate his breakfast, savoring every single bite. Mrs. Cormaci gave her usual morning status check with them.  
"So, how's your Grandma doing?" she asked thoughtfully, like she did every morning.  
"She's doing fine," Gregor responded, mouth full of bacon. She proceeded to ask a few questions to Lizzie, like how school was going, and how her friend, Jedidiah, was doing. She then turned to Gregor, who was still slowly chewing on the last strip of bacon.  
"So, Underland still haunts you?" she asked, reading his mind about the recent nightmares.  
"Yeah," Gregor said, still chewing the strip of bacon.

"Don't worry. Give it a few months and it'll hopefully go," she said, teasing him. But he knew it wouldn't go. It was a piece of his life that he couldn't throw out; kind of like learning your ABCs, or learning how to read. Gregor and Lizzie finished breakfast. Mrs. Cormaci sent them out with the usual "Have a good day,"

Gregor and Lizzie walked back into their apartment, and resumed what they were doing. Gregor sat on the couch and started to watch some Saturday cartoons. He wasn't paying attention, though. His eyes were glued to the "Ares toy" that was propped on top of the TV. Boots ran into the room. She must have woken up while they were at Mrs. Cormaci's. Hyper, she ran up to Gregor's lap, but then quickly jumped back down and brung out the little tin of colorful plastic frogs.

Memories of the jungle flashed through his mind….those horrible jewel-like, colorful poison frogs. They had nearly killed Boots, and the whole party was frozen in fear when the frogs had come. It was a frightening scene. Boots, happy and giggling, was sitting on top of a rock that was covered with hundreds of tiny poison frogs, waiting to kill her. Gregor shook the idea out of his mind. Boots was singing some strange Underland nursery rhyme about bats and bacon as she propped the frogs on the edge of the sofa Gregor was sitting on.  
"Look Gregor! Fwogs!" she exclaimed, proud. She had recently learned how to say Gregor's name. Gregor laughed a little, and went up to see if she knew the colors. She happily shouted the colors.  
"Green! Blue! Yellow!" She started to say, pointing at the frogs, down the line.  
After they were done, she continued to play with the frogs. Gregor's mom walked in and played a little with Boots.

Gregor, half asleep, just continued watching TV, but his eyes were still glued to the plastic bat. Lizzie was quietly doing more Sudoku puzzles, minding her own business. Gregor sighed and just sat there on the couch, staring at the little toy bat.

The day went on. Gregor was bored on Saturdays nowadays because he didn't have much to do. He spent much of the night doing math drills with Lizzie.

Suddenly, the door burst open. Gregor's dad, who had just finished doing the laundry, ran into the living room and had a note in his hand. It was rolled up and tied with a red ribbon. It could only mean one thing.

"Gregor," his dad said panting. "You have a letter."


	2. Ch 2: Return to the Underland

"Don't tell me…" Gregor said quietly.  
The family stood there in shock, and already knew what it meant.  
"Let's open her up," Gregor's dad said anxiously.  
And with that, he undid the knot and opened the letter up. Gregor's dad read it aloud.

_Dear Gregor and Gregor's Family,_

_The Underland is in a state of deep shock. We have recently discovered a new prophecy we have not known of previously. Overnight, it mysteriously appeared upon the floor of the prophecy room. We know you have left the Underland for good, and may not wish to return, but the fate of the Underland is rather questionable at the moment. Please come to Regalia as soon as possible. Go to your laundry room at midnight, and we will send a messenger up to bring you down. And please bring Boots as well._

_Sincerely,_

_Vikus  
_

"….I'm going back?" Gregor said in shock. He sounded sad, but inside, he was actually happy to go back. He wanted to go back and see Luxa, Vikus and Ares and everyone else. But then it hit him again. Ares was dead. He still couldn't get over it. "I guess," his dad said in confusion.  
"Oh no you aren't," Gregor's mom said in a serious tone. Gregor frowned without saying a word. But then Gregor's mom started to remember about the rats that forced them to go during the Prophecy of Blood. Then she changed her mind. "Actually, on second thought, you can go," she said with a fake smile.  
"But bring dad," she added.

Gregor's mom gave the news to Mrs. Cormaci. Mrs. Cormaci came in and gave Gregor a lightweight, blue backpack.  
"Had this handy just in case you had to go back," she said with a wink. With that, she tossed it over to Gregor, who caught it. It was hard and tough. He opened it and gasped. Inside, the backpack was filled with batteries. Somewhere in the pile of batteries were a few flashlights. It also had a few granola bars.  
"Wow," Gregor said, smiling.  
"Thanks!" was all he could add on. He wanted to say more, but he was too shocked to say anything else. Mrs. Cormaci always had something to give to Gregor.  
"Well, I know you need light. And the energy bars there are just in case you get hungry," She said with a smile. Gregor's parents thanked her and Mrs. Cormaci gave a few hugs and kisses to everyone, and then went out the door. The clock read 11:51PM.  
"Oh man, we better get going," Gregor said. Boots could interpret what was happening.  
"We go see Temp?" she said, excited. Temp was her best friend. The crawlers thought of her as a princess, and cherished and worshipped her. She was always with Temp.  
"Yeah," Gregor said with a slight laugh. Gregor kissed his mom good bye, and then saw Lizzie, who was about to have a panic attack. She was breathing heavily.  
th us?" There was a moment of silence. And then her breathing calmed.  
"I thought you'd never ask," she said with a smile.  
And with that, the four headed to the laundry room.

The four just sat on the floor in front of the grate, waiting. As soon as the clock struck midnight, a furry face broke through and popped the grate open. Lizzie jumped. Gregor smiled. Boots was sleeping.  
"Greetings, overlanders!" the bat said. Gregor examined the bat. It had black and white stripes.  
"Oh, hey Nike!" Gregor exclaimed happily. Boots immediately woke up to Nike's soothing voice.  
"Hi pwincess!" she shouted. Lizzie was shivering in fear, still shocked from her popping open the grate. Gregor felt air pushing at his face from the grate. The currents.  
"Hello, princess Boots!" said Nike with a giggle.  
"Well, long time no see, overlanders! But we really must be going. Vikus is waiting!" The bat dropped down into the darkness. They heard her voice come through. It was slightly muffled.  
"Drop, overlanders," they heard her say. Boots, eager, went first. Then Gregor's dad. Lizzie was about to panic.  
"C'mon, just jump, the current will carry you," Gregor said to calm her down.  
He jumped, and said "Wheeee! C'mon, try it," to get her motivated. And with that, she jumped.

Despite falling, and Gregor hated falling, he was overly excited. He had not seen the Underland for months. He was anxious to see Luxa. In a minute or two, everyone was on the ground. Nike then managed to get everyone on her back to fly to Regalia. Boots was in Gregor's lap, and Lizzie was in her dad's lap.

In minutes, they flew over the stadium. But the stadium was empty. Gregor expected something to be going on, but then decided everyone must be waiting in the city. In a few more seconds, they were flying over Regalia. Gregor couldn't help but smile. The scent of the city was inviting. "Just like old times," he thought. He familiarized himself again with the intricate tapestry on every corner of the city. People all over the ground were forgetting whatever they were doing and looking up in awe and shock, screaming things like "The overlander is back!" Boots couldn't help but respond.  
"Hi, you!" she shouted down below in excitement.

Lizzie and Gregor's dad were smiling too. And before they knew it, they were flying into the high hall again. There, on the ground, was Vikus. The group ran into his arms as a warm greeting. Gregor felt great to see Vikus again.  
"So you have returned," he said happily.  
"We thought you may be in Virginia," he added on.  
"We decided to stay," his dad said with a smile.  
"Tonight, after we feast, I will tell you why you are here," Vikus said to Gregor.  
Food. Man, was Gregor hungry. But before they could do anything else, they were sent to bathe. They had to have the overland stench off of them. After bathing, they were given fresh new sets of Underland clothes.

In an hour, they were done bathing and met in the old Nursery where the nibbler pups were being housed last time Gregor was here. It had been remodeled. New carpets were placed and new furniture and toys were on the floor. Gregor couldn't help but notice that scary turtle statue on the wall that he had snuck through a few times before. Dulcet was already waiting. Boots immediately ran into Dulcet's arms. Dulcet was the nanny that took care of Boots a few times, and one of the nicest underlanders Gregor has met.  
"Greetings, overlanders!" Dulcet said happily. After exchanging some questions with Gregor's family, she and Boots sat down to sing some nursery rhymes. Lizzie decided to join them. Gregor's dad walked around the room, examining the rhymes on the walls and the beautiful pictures.  
"Where's Luxa?" Gregor said anxiously. He tried not to sound weird.  
"Oh, I had forgotten! Forgive me. She is waiting for you in her corridor," Dulcet said with a smile.  
She then resumed to her singing with Boots.  
"Thanks," Gregor murmured back to her.

Gregor quickly ran out of the room and ran as fast as possible to the royal residential corridor of the palace. He passed many familiar faces on the way. He waved to Miravet, Solovet's sister.

Solovet…the mean old lady who would do whatever it takes to keep Gregor down here. She was never nice to Gregor. But she didn't deserve to die like that.

Pretty soon, Gregor had found Luxa's little home. Gregor was smiling with anticipation. He slowly walked in, and saw her room hadn't changed a bit. There were still those two other rooms linking off. As he stepped in, he could see Hazard jumping off a bed in one of her bedrooms and immediately coming out to greet Gregor.

Hazard. The sweet halflander. The son of Hamnet.

Hamnet. The rogue of Regalia. Hazard's father. Killed by the cutters.

"Hey Gregor!" said Hazard with a grin on his soft little face.  
"How ya doing, Hazard?" Gregor said happily. Hazard threw himself into Gregor's arms. Ever since Hamnet had died, Hazard had been living with Luxa as her little brother.  
"So, where's Luxa?" Gregor asked.  
"Oh, she's in her library over there," he said, pointing to the other doorway. Gregor told where Boots was, and Hazard ran off to go see Boots and Lizzie.

Gregor laughed a little, and then took a deep breath. He was alone. And about to see Luxa again. Smiling, he stepped into her library. He had never seen it before. It was covered in bookshelves from wall to wall, with tons of books on multiple topics.

And then he saw her. Over there, in the corner, was Luxa, wearing her usual clothing, reading a book. As soon as she heard Gregor's voice, she tossed the book away and ran into his arms. Gregor never wanted to let go. He wanted to be there for eternity, cherishing every moment with Luxa.

As they let go, the two were smiling.  
"Gregor the overlander! How are you doing? How is your family?" Luxa asked, with that elegant smile of hers. Gregor was happy to see her again.  
"We're doing fine. How's the Underland?" Gregor responded.  
"Not good. Much has been going on," Luxa said with a frown. "Huh? I thought you guys were allied with the rats," Gregor said, confused.  
"Yes, but there's an occasional outbreak every now and then," Luxa said.  
"Oh, how's Ripred?" Gregor asked. He almost forgot about Ripred. Ripred and Luxa had bonded the last time he was here. "He is doing well. He misses you," she said with a thoughtful smile.  
"Wow," Gregor thought.  
Ripred wasn't a person you'd see showing lots of sympathy. He'd usually be talking trash or insulting Gregor, but he couldn't believe Ripred was actually missing him. There was a moment of silence. The two then sat down and Luxa showed the library to him. There were books on war, on science, on history, and even books on health. The Library was such a small room, little bigger than the dungeon, yet it housed so many books. Then a certain book caught Gregor's eye. It had a piece of paper on its spine marked _FOR GREGOR_.  
"Hey, what's that?" Gregor asked Luxa.  
"Oh! Yes! That is for you. Go ahead and take it out," she said with a grin.  
Gregor brung the book out. It was a scrapbook. Mainly of Hazard's birthday.  
tos of Gregor, Luxa, Hazard, Boots, and many more Underland friends. Gregor couldn't take his eyes off the one with Gregor and Luxa dancing. He smiled.

And then he saw the one with Thalia. Poor Thalia. The innocent, young bat that loved to laugh. She had never done anything wrong in her life. Yet she was killed so quickly by the volcano called "the queen". Gregor remembered how one time she was crying and sobbing and Gregor told her a joke, and then she started to laugh in the midst of crying.  
"Poor thing," Gregor thought. Luxa stared at some pictures with Gregor, reliving precious moments of their lives. They laughed and cried together. Gregor couldn't wish for a better place to be.

Vikus walked through the doorway.

"Supper time," he said.


	3. Ch 3: The Reunion

Gregor and Luxa entered the banquet room. A magical scene awaited them. There, on the grand table, happily sat Gregor's dad, Gregor's sisters, Dulcet, Miravet, Vikus, the surviving council members, and a many other familiar faces. There, however, were a few empty seats as well. Gregor took a seat next to Boots. Luxa sat across from him. The food hadn't come yet. But Gregor was excited. Not only was he hungry, but he was hoping he'd see lots of his old friends again. Especially Ripred. Gregor just sat there, sort of waiting for something to happen.

And then something did. Mareth walked into the room. Gregor couldn't help but grin. Mareth. One of his best friends down here. He had been through many fights and battles with Mareth, and was very excited to see him again.  
"Mareth! How are you doing, man?" Gregor exclaimed happily. Mareth sat down diagonal from Gregor and smiled.  
"Ahh,Overlander! No, excuse me. Gregor! You have returned!" Mareth said rather loudly.  
"Yeah. Some other weird prophecy dragged me down here," Gregor replied with a smile. Mareth laughed, and then turned to talk to Luxa.

Mareth's laughing reminded Gregor of how Thalia used to always laugh at the corniest overland jokes. Gregor started to remember that Underland version he had made of "Why did the chicken cross the road?"  
"No, no more sad memories," Gregor thought to himself.

And then, several servants walked in and placed the platters of food on the table. A meal consisting of mushrooms, fish, some sort of stew, and some sort of mushroom kebob was placed in front of Gregor, neatly placed onto a large plate. Next to that, some sort of dip for the mushrooms was placed. Gregor's mouth watered. Underland food. He hadn't tasted it in months. On the table in front of the empty seat to the left of Gregor, a platter of shrimp in cream sauce was being placed.  
"Ripred!" thought Gregor.  
Vikus then finally noticed Gregor and waved to him. Gregor waved back. He might as well wave to Miravet and Dulcet too. Gregor started to hungrily devour his meal.

Suddenly, a line of people poured in from the doorway. In the line, Gregor could make out the delegates for each species that were selected last time he was here, and a few more unfamiliar faces. But Ripred was nowhere to be seen. At the end of the line, he could make out Howard. Howard was one of Gregor's other good friends. He was the medic of the team during most of their adventures. Howard immediately spotted Gregor and smiled. He walked towards Gregor.  
"Gregor! How have you been? You have grown," Howard said happily.  
Gregor smiled and said "I've been good. How's life, Howard?"  
"It has been dull since you left," Howard replied with a laugh. The two shook hands, and then Howard went to go sit down two seats from Gregor.

The seat to the left of Gregor was still empty, though. Gregor waved to the all the species delegates. Most of them waved back, except Reflex and the digger who had a really hard-to-pronounce name; they were too busy stuffing themselves. Most of the delegates were members of the old code team.

And then a rat walked in. On his face were two crisscrossing diagonal scars.

Ripred. Gregor's mentor. The one who had scarred himself one more time to fulfill the Peacemaker prophecy.

Ripred saw Gregor and actually smiled a little bit. Gregor smiled too. Ripred sat down to the left of Gregor. Without saying a word, Ripred first stuffed some shrimp into his mouth. He licked the cream sauce off of his face and turned to Gregor, who was smiling.  
"Gregor," Ripred said with a small smile.  
"Ripred, man! How've you been?" Gregor spat out.  
He still couldn't get used to the second scar on Ripred's face.  
"Pretty bored since you left," Ripred said. "Practice your echolocation?" he added.  
Gregor had totally forgotten. He didn't think he'd need them since he'd thought he'd never have to go down here again.  
"I didn't think I'd need them after I'd seemingly left this place for good," Gregor replied with a slight frown.  
"I see. We'll get to that later," Ripred said with another smile.

With that, he dipped his face onto his plate and stuffed himself some more. Gregor giggled a bit, and then continued to eat his own meal. Boots was already finished and covering her arms in that weird mushroom dip. The sight of the green sauce all over her arms made Gregor laugh. Luxa and Mareth laughed too. Even Ripred smiled a bit.

After everybody was finished eating, Gregor was called out of the room to go with Vikus. Vikus quietly lead him down to the Prophecy room. As he opened the door with the key, something caught Gregor's eye. There was something new on the floor of the room… It wasn't there before.

"The Prophecy of Terror," Vikus said, pointing to the floor. Gregor read it aloud.

_**THE PROPHECY OF TERROR**_

_**THE UNDERLAND HAS SPOKEN**_

_**THE CODE HAS BEEN BROKEN.**_

_**BUT WILL IT BE OUTSPOKEN?**_

_**IS IT ACTUALLY UNBROKEN?**_

_**WHAT COULD TURN FOUR 'LANDERS AWAY?**_

_**WHY WAS IT THE KILLERS THAT THEY HAD TO BETRAY?**_

_**THE KILLERS' CONSQUENCE BECOMES SEVERE**_

_**THE REASON OF THEIR BETRAYAL BECOMES CRYSTAL CLEAR.**_

_**THE FOUR SHALL RISE AND FORM A TEAM**_

_**A TEAM WITH MUCH A DEADLY THEME**_

_**FIERCEFULLY BATTLE THE SOLEMN WARRIOR**_

_**BUT WILL HE PREVAIL AND BE SUPERIOR?**_

_**IN THE DARKNESS LAY THE THREATS**_

_**WITH THEIR HAUNTING SILHOUETTES**_

_**THE WARRIOR MUST BE ALL SET**_

_**TO DRAIN THE LIGHT OF THIS QUARTET.**_

_**WITH THE CHAOS THAT RULES THE HOUR**_

_**THE QUARTET HAS THEIR KEY TO POWER**_

_**SNEAK INTO THE CITY, GRAND AND TALL**_

_**BEGIN THE DEATHMATCH AND THE BRAWL**_

_**WHEN THE WARRIOR HAS APPARENTLY DIED**_

_**AND THE UNDERLAND HAS MOURNED AND CRIED**_

_**THE QUARTET'S FINAL TASK MAY BE COMPLETE**_

_**WILL THEY GO BACK OR RETREAT?**_

_**WHEN WEAPONS DROP AND BLOOD SPLASHES**_

_**SOMETHING RISES FROM THE ASHES**_

_**THE LAST SURVIVOR MUST DECIDE WHERE HE STANDS**_

_**THE FATE OF THE UNDERLAND IS CONTAINED IN HIS HANDS.**_

_**THE FINAL SURVIVOR IS BARELY ALIVE.**_

_**WILL HE PULL THROUGH AND TRY TO SURVIVE?**_

_**FOR EVIL, THE MAD SURVIVOR STRIVES**_

_**BUT INTO THE DEPTHS HE DISAPPEARS AND DIVES.**_

Gregor was speechless.  
"I don't like the name," He said with a gulp.  
"It's about four people after me, too," he added.  
"Yes. We do not yet know who these people are, yet, though. This strange prophecy mysteriously appeared overnight," Vikus said, frowning.  
"And it calls for me to die…again," Gregor said with another gulp.  
"Not necessarily," Vikus said. "It may not. Last time it called for you to die, however you have survived that. And it calls for you to 'apparently' die, Gregor. So keep your eyes open," He added.  
Gregor let out a sigh of relief.  
"So, who do you think this 'quartet' could be?" Gregor asked.  
"I do not know. But I will have my eyes open as well," Vikus said with a nod.  
Gregor was about to walk out when something he had forgotten about hit his mind.  
"Oh, I had a backpack here. Where'd it go?" He asked Vikus.  
"Yes, we have it in the museum for you incase you need it," Vikus replied.

Gregor left the room and decided he go see Luxa again. As he walked, he passed the "new" nursery. Hazard, Lizzie, and Boots were busy playing some sort of game using 3 colored dots. Gregor waved as he walked by. In minutes, he was already back in Luxa's room.

As he stepped in, it was empty again. "She must be in the library," Gregor thought. He proceeded to Luxa's library. Luxa was already there, sitting on a stool, reading a book about crime.  
"Hey Luxa," Gregor said with a grin.  
"Hello, Gregor," she replied, eyes still on the book.  
Gregor sat down on the floor next to the stool she was sitting on. He observed the pages she was staring at. The header on the page was titled "Warrior Imposters".  
Gregor, curious, asked Luxa about it.  
"Who are those people?" Gregor asked, pointing to the pictures. The pictures portrayed tons of people dressing up and dying their hair and pretending to be the warrior of the prophecies.  
"Before you came to the Underland, many people tried to pose as the warrior. They wanted free glory and free power. They colored their hair and attempted to speak with overlander accents, but they all failed," Luxa said as she shook her head.  
"Wow. Good thing they weren't taken seriously," Gregor said.  
"But when we saw you, it was obvious you were the warrior," Luxa said, glancing at Gregor.  
Gregor just sat there with her, staring at the room and her, doing nothing.  
"I gotta go," Gregor said to Luxa.  
"Goodbye, Gregor," she said back to him.

But Gregor didn't really have to go. He just wanted to walk around the palace and get acquainted to it again.  
As he stepped out of her room, he saw a figure quickly scampering across the hall. Flat. Insect. Legs…lots of them.

"Temp," thought Gregor. Gregor quickly caught up and the crawler looked at him.  
"Greetings overlander, greetings," said the crawler.  
But its voice indicated it wasn't Temp. It was too deep to be Temp's. But then again, all roaches looked alike to Gregor.  
"Hey there," Gregor replied back to it. "What's your name?" He asked.  
"I be Pend, I be," said the crawler.

"Oh. Hey Pend," Gregor said with a soft smile. Gregor forgot about Pend. He had only seen him for a total of around 30 seconds in his life, and that was when he was playing with Boots in the nursery.

Gregor walked past Pend and continued down the many hallways. Finally, he found the nursery again. Lizzie was taking a nap in Gregor's dad's lap. But Boots was doing something else.

Running around the room, was Boots, on Temp's back. Temp! One of Gregor's other better friends down here. Temp had been on almost every adventure with Gregor. He was a quiet, but solemn roach. Gregor always felt sorry for the poor crawler. Crawlers weren't respected much.

"Temp!" Gregor spat out.  
Temp immediately stopped and came to the doorway where Gregor was standing.  
"Greetings, Gregor, greetings," Temp said in a hoarse voice. The poor crawler was getting tired from hours of Boots.  
"How's it going, Temp?" Gregor asked.  
"Very dull, it be, very dull," Temp said. That's what everyone had been saying since Gregor left.  
Boots, like a horse-back rider, pat Temp's shell and made him run around the room some more. Gregor laughed and sat down.

Gregor lay down on a cushion, slowly drifting away. Eventually, he fell asleep.

Gregor was later awoken by the sounds of something walking. Like a roach or some sort of insect.

"Temp," he thought.

But he was wrong. As Gregor cleared his eyes, he noticed everyone else in the room was gone and the torches were blown out.

And then he saw it.

In the doorway, slowly coming for Gregor was a creamy-white spider, or spinner, as the underlanders called them. Gregor spotted a red ribbon tied to the spinner's leg.

But then Gregor remembered humans and spinners were not allied.


End file.
